The Clawed Lotus
by thegeekykitty
Summary: The Chaotix travel to a place called Paprika Island for a vacation. Unfortunately, they discover several murders have occurred within the area. They decide to take on the case and catch the killer. Find out what happens. Rated T for blood and death. (On hiatus due to lack of inspiration)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 _10:40 p.m. Paprika Island_

Night is drenched over the otherwise bright and jovial Paprika Island, located south of the Green Hill Zone. The air outside is nice and cool compared to the tropical heat it experiences during the day. The streetlights have been on for quite a while. Civilians, both humans and anthros (animals with human like characteristics such as speech and thought), are safely within their homes either off to bed or up a little while longer to read a book or watch a movie. Other civilians are still out late having gone to a club or the theatre, while some are just now calling it a day and deciding to make their way back home. It is the perfect opportunity for death to deal its loathsome kiss.

In the shadows lurks a murderer. It has been roaming about the dark recesses of the island and resort for some time now. Every night, this monster stalks the lonelier parts of the region looking to end the misery of anyone foolish enough to go off on their own and often get lost on their way back home.

The murderer has been up to this crime for over a month now. Still, no one has been able to catch them to prosecute them for their atrocities. The locals have yet to come up with a possible face for this creeper. They do not know if the perpetrator is a man or a woman. They do not know what species they may be, nor do they know what their motives behind these senseless killings are. All they know is that there is a pattern to their killings: all its victims are young people ages between the ages of 14-28 who wander out on their own in the dark, secluded areas of the island.

All the victims are found eyes wide open, their bodies slashed from thighs to throat, and a strange, bloody mark left atop their foreheads in the shape of a lotus. This led to the mysterious killer being dubbed by the locals "The Clawed Lotus."

From a swinging dance club emerges a young, purple female hedgehog 22 years of age.. She waves goodbye to her friends as she leaves from the club heading towards her home. Little does she know, danger is looming behind her as she walks. The unidentified creeper lays concealed in the shadows. It watches as the lone, vulnerable female hedgehog walks off into the night. Eyes glistening with predatory delight, the lurker moves after its prey.

The hedgehog continues to walk down the sidewalk towards her home. The streetlights guide her so she can see her way through. Behind her, the shadowy stalker follows her closely. Still waiting until she's completely alone at a place where her screams cannot possibly be heard. She walks past some shrubberies that lead into the city park just a few miles away from the club. The park lays barely lit, with only a small handful of lights up. It is devoid of any life save for some crickets that chirp eerily in the background. A perfect area for the shadowed stalker to take yet another life. Slowly, the predator makes its move.

The hedgehog is growing more nervous as she walks through the vacant park. The partially dark, desolate area makes her uneasy. Feeling as though she is being followed, she turns around only to see nothing behind her. Relieved, she resumes her walk back home. But before she is able to walk any further, the killer strikes.

The poor hedgehog is suddenly yanked behind a large shrub by a force she cannot see. She is thrown to the ground in a very hard manner. She struggles to get up and run, but she cannot move due to a darkened force standing atop her. She tries to scream for help, but is quickly muffled by her attacker. The Clawed Lotus slashes its claws through her thigh. Intense pain sears through her side. The slasher then proceeds to rip across her stomach up to her throat. The hedgehog is no longer able to scream. Finally, with a murderous gleam in the eye, the killer tears the hedgehog's other side. Silencing her forever, the killer slashes her throat once more.

The killer stands up to look at his latest kill. The purple, female hedgehog lays lifeless on the ground. Her facial expression reads horror. Her eyes are wide open like the previous victims, and her torso, throat, and thighs are slashed open.

"It's missing something," the killer ponders, "But what?"

Immediately, it remembers. With some quick slashes, the killer places the mark of the lotus on the freshly deceased female hedgehog's forehead, marking that it had once again left its mark.

"Perfect!" the killer laughs to itself.

This made 33 (count 'em, 33!) victims within a month. This shadow creature feels proud of its growing number of kills. This means it is unstoppable at this point. No one has been able to find it, not even the local authorities. At this point, it is going to take a miracle for it to be caught, much less stopped.

 **To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter 1

Stretching his long, green arms over his head in relief, Vector said, "We're finally here, boys," to Espio and Charmy as the trio got off their plane. As Vector led, Espio and Charmy followed closely behind.

"Woo-hoo!" exclaimed Charmy.

"Finally! I've grown tired of that flight. It was quite noisy," groaned Espio.

"C'mon Espio, it wasn't that bad," Charmy said. Espio shot him an annoyed glance. Charmy, being normally so loud and hyperactive himself, didn't quite understand what Espio was so miffed by.

As part of his ninja creed, Espio had been attempting to get in some valued meditation time while on the plane. Unfortunately, their flight had too much noise on it for him to get his quiet time.

"I could barely hear myself think. In order to have a successful meditation session, I need absolute silence, and that flight of ours always had something knocking in my ear!" Espio snarled.

The trio walked out from the terminal and walked through the bustling lobby room over towards the luggage conveyor belt. They grabbed their luggage then made their way towards the front door.

"Well, Espio, we're here now. You can probably find plenty of places on the beach to do your meditation" said Vector.

"Yay! We're going to the beach! We're going to the beach!" Charmy happily sang repetitively as he flew around his two older companions. His hyperactive behavior was not overly appreciated by Vector and Espio.

"Knock it off, Charmy!" Vector commanded the bouncy bumblebee. Charmy immediately stopped and pouted with his arms crossed and his antennae wilting. Espio shook his head at his more boisterous partners.

Vector sniffed the air. "I can smell that ocean already. Let's go out find our hotel, boys. It's time we had some rest and relaxation."

"Yeah!" said Charmy. Espio said nothing. He simply nodded his head slightly in agreement.

The Chaotix Detective Agency was desperately in need of a good vacation at this point. For the past few months or so, the trio, consisting of Espio (the quiet, thoughtful Chameleon) , Charmy (the young, hyper, and perky Bee), and Vector (the muscle and leader Crocodile), had taken on several cases such as finding a missing child, tracking down a jewel thief, and even a few small cases of helping young kids find their lost toys.

Now that they had scrounged up a good deal of money from the cases, they could finally afford the vacation they deserved. They had decided on coming to Paprika Island, for it was known for its fabulous beachside, fun amusement park, and numerous other tourist attractions. It was the perfect place for one to come and simply take a break from work.

The Chaotix climbed into a taxi cab and asked to be driven to The Coconut and Pineapple Hotel near the beach. The trio looked in amazement at the beauty of the island as the cab drove down the road. The sun was glowing bright in the sky, the palm trees were blowing, there was a slight breeze along the paths, and the grass on the field was lush and green.

"Cool!" remarked Charmy.

"Yeah, this looks significantly more amazing than it did in the brochure," said Vector.

As the cab got closer to the beach, the smell of sea water began to thicken. Finally, the beach started to appear in the distance, as did the 16 story hotel towering over the beachfront. All three Chaotix stared in awe at the beautiful sight.

The cab finally arrived in front of the hotel. Vector tipped the cab driver, and the Chaotix started for the front door.

"Nice place," Vector remarked at the tall, fancy hotel.

"Cool!" said Charmy.

"I expected nothing less," replied Espio, subtly smirking.

The three walked through the front door and into the main lobby of the hotel towards the front desk. "I'll check us in, you two wait over there near the couches," said Vector.

"Okay," said Charmy.

"Yes, sir," said Espio.

Espio walked over towards the couch on the left side of the room. The TV was on tuned to the local news. Charmy simply flew and bounced around the room.

"Beachy beach. Beachy beach" the bee sang out as he bounced about.

Ignoring Charmy, Espio turned his attention to the television where a man was giving out the day's headlines.

"In other news, around 9am this morning, a young, female hedgehog was found lying dead in the city park behind a shrub," the anchorman reported. Espio looked up at the TV. That news story caught his attention immediately.

"The body was found covered in various gashes around the thighs, throat, and torso, and had the mark of the lotus slashes on the forehead. Through dental records, authorities have identified the body as that of 22 year old Crystal Marie the Hedgehog," the anchorman said as the TV displayed a picture of a purple female hedgehog on the screen. Espio's eyes widened at the mention of a "lotus mark on the forehead."

"It would seem that we have yet another victim of the mysterious Clawed Lotus murderer. Police are currently investigating, and hopefully more information will be found."

Espio cocked his head to the side as he contemplated this new information."Should I tell Vector about this?" he wondered to himself. Vector would probably be intrigued to hear about a murder case. As Espio was finishing his thought, Vector called out to him and Charmy.

"C'mon boys, let's head on up to our room," he said.

"Coming!" called Charmy. Espio got up from the couch and walked over towards his companions. "That news report," Espio thought to himself. "Something about that murder story sounds very familiar."

 **To Be Continued….**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello readers, sorry this took so long to upload. My editor is a very busy gal and I myself was taking a bit of a hiatus. I hope to get back to this story more often now. Enjoy :)**

Espio and Charmy walked back towards Vector. They were about to start for the elevator when the manager at the front desk rang a bell and called for a Rayner. Within seconds, a tall panda bear with light blue eyes in a bellhop uniform came hustling towards the front desk.

"Yes sir?" the panda answered.

"Please take our new guests up to their room, thank you," the manager said.

"Right away, sir."

The panda put on a warm, friendly smile as he turned his attention to the Chaotix.

"Hello, guests. My name is Rayner. Allow me to help you with your bags, good sir."

Rayner took the trio's bags and placed them onto the luggage cart.

"Thank you," said Vector.

Still smiling, Rayner exclaimed "No problem!"

The elevator opened, and the four of them gathered inside. As the elevator moved upwards, Espio stood quietly in the corner staring down at his feet. The news story he had seen not too long ago was the only thing on his mind.

"Clawed Lotus," Espio thought to himself, "why does that seem so familiar to me?"

"I feel I've seen that method of killing before, but where?'" Espio glanced at Vector, and then looked right back down at his feet.

"I should probably tell Vector about this, but this might spoil his vacation plans."

Vector noticed the thoughtful expression on the magenta chameleon's face. He was used to his more subdued partner's quiet behavior. Of course, it was always an appreciated contrast to Charmy's louder and more exuberant antics (though, to be fair, are expected of his age). However, Espio's expression then troubled the crocodile. While Espio had always been serious, he never seemed as distant as he was at the moment. That may have been a sign that something was very wrong.

"Everything ok there, Espio?" asked Vector.

Espio looked up from his thoughts. "Hmm? Oh, of course Vector. I was just thinking to myself, that's all," Espio replied. Vector looked at the chameleon with extreme skepticism.

The elevator finally made it to the floor where their room was located. The four of them walked out of the elevator and down the hall towards their room.

"Room 620, this is us," said Vector. He pulled out the room key card and slid it into the scanner on the door handle.

The door opened and the trio plus Rayner entered the room. The room looked very clean, as if it had been freshly vacuumed and dusted. There were two twin sized beds that sat in front of a small TV set with a mini fridge underneath. To the right was the bathroom with a small closet next to it. The window sat by the beds, and the curtains were held open, brightening up the room and giving it a lovely view of the neighboring beachside.

"Nice room," said Vector, who then turned to his younger partners. "Whataya think, boys? Looks like we're livin' pretty large."

Espio and Charmy looked with amazement at the nice hotel room. "Pretty impressive to say the least," said Espio.

Charmy was brimming with awe. "Cool!" he exclaimed, and rushed into the room and went straight towards the window.

"Look! We can see the beach from here!" he said cheerfully.

He quickly flew back towards Vector, beaming widely. "Can we go to the beach now, Vector?" the young bee begged. "Please, pretty please?" he repeatedly begged.

Vector grimaced at the bee's excessive eagerness. He placed his hand over Charmy's face, muffling him. He turned back towards Rayner with Charmy still kicking and squirming in his hand.

"Anyway, thank you Rayner for ya' services," Vector said

Rayner smiled at the crocodile as he handed the trio's luggage back over to them. "No problem, Mr. Vector."

"If there's anything you boys need to make your stay here more pleasurable, just let me know," Rayner said.

Vector smiled and said, "Okay, thanks again," as he handed the panda a tip.

With that, Rayner started back down the hallway towards the elevator. Vector released Charmy from his grip once Rayner was out of sight and gave the bee an annoyed stare.

"Must you always make such a ruckus everywhere we go?" Vector wasn't amused by the bee's over exuberant attitude. Charmy pouted and crossed his arms, "I just want to go to the beach," Charmy shot back. "Can't we go now?"

Vector sighed. "We'll head on down to the beach in little while, Charmy. First we've got to put our stuff up and decide who gets what bed. Fair enough?"

"Okay!" exclaimed Charmy as he happily spun around.

The trio placed their luggage near the beds then exchanged glances with one another. With there being only two beds for the three of them, this put the trio in an awkward position. Espio narrowed his eyes at his two teammates. "While we're on the subject of beds, I am not sharing one with either of you," he declared bluntly.

"I figured as much, Espio," said Vector.

"Hmph. I think I'll be just fine here on this chair," said Espio as he climbed onto a leather chair in the corner of the room.

"Yeah. This will definitely do,"

"I call the bed by the window!" said Charmy in a singsong tone as he flopped down on the large bed and sighed at the soft sensation from the bed's mattress. He turned over towards Vector with big pleading eyes.

"Now can we go to the beach, Vector?"

Vector rolled his eyes. "Alright, Charmy. We'll head on down to the beach," he said.

"Yahoo!" Charmy exclaimed.

Within minutes, the trio gathered up the items they were going to need for the beach and scrambled out the door.

 **To Be Continued...**

 **Sorry if this chapter was kind of short and rather lackluster, but I promise things will pick up in the next chapter. Till then.**


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